Was Nikki Haley pranked by Russians, or are these tricksters fooling us all?

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley may have been fooled by a pair of Russian pranksters pretending to be the prime minister of Poland.

The duo, known as Vovan and Lexus, claims to have arranged a crank phone call Thursday with the former South Carolina governor.

The pair, whose real names are Alexei Stolyarov and Vladimir Kuznetsov, posted a nearly 22-minute video clip this weekend in which a woman who sounds like Haley speaks to a man who she thinks is the new Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

"Yes, this is Nikki. How are you Mr. Minister?" the woman who sounds like Haley said. "Let me start with very much thanking you for the support we've received on the vote today. We will never forget it."

Between questions about Ukraine and Russia, the fake prime minister asked Haley about Binomo — a fake island that does not exist.

"You know Binomo?" the prankster said.

"Yes, yes," Haley responded.

"They had elections and we suppose Russians had its intervention," the joker said.

"Yes, of course they did, absolutely," Haley said.

When asked about America's plans to do about the situation in Binomo, Haley said, "Let me find out exactly what our stance is on that, and what if anything the U.S. is doing or thinks should be done and I will report back to you on that as well."

The pranksters claim the full conversation with Haley lasted about 30 minutes.

But was it really Haley in the video, or was it all a complete fake?

"We have nothing to share on that at this time," Haley spokesman John Degory told The Post and Courier on Tuesday. Degory would not confirm or deny the authenticity of the video.

If it turns out to be Haley, she would not be the first politician to become the butt of a joke orchestrated by Vovan and Lexus. In July, Energy Secretary Rick Perry was duped by the duo. Other victims of past pranks include singer Elton John, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Snopes, an online fact-checking organization, investigated whether McCain and Waters had actually been fooled after online users questioned the authenticity of the voices in the Russian video clips. The site deemed the claim unproven, which they define as lacking sufficient evidence to be considered true "but the claim cannot be definitively proved false."

In a 2016 interview with The Guardian last year, the pair said they do not work for anyone but themselves when choosing who to prank, saying, "We only choose the subjects we are interested in ourselves."

Reach Caitlin Byrd at 843-937-5590 and follow her on Twitter @MaryCaitlinByrd.

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Caitlin Byrd is a political reporter at The Post and Courier and author of the Palmetto Politics newsletter. Before moving to Charleston in 2016, her byline appeared in the Asheville Citizen-Times. To date, Byrd has won 17 awards for her work.

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